Semirigid suspended railway structure



Nov. 23 1926.

lSEMIRIGID SUSPENDED RAILWAY STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 17.

im" N 3 Sheets-SneerI 1 Nov. z3 1926.

A. DAVINO SEMRIGID SUSPENDED RAILWAY STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 17. 1923 5 Sheets-Shee 2 gwuc' fo@ ALP/@N50 HAM/v0.

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- `A. DAVINO SEMIRIGIVD SUSPENDED RAILWAY STRUCTURE Nov. 23 1926.v

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Patented Nov. 23, 1926i.

uNirEo STATES .ALPHONSG DAVI'NO, 0F kLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SEMIRIGID SUSPENDED STRUCTURE.

Application filed December 1.7, 1923.

My invention relates to a semi-rigid, suspended railway structure, and the objects of my invention are: first, to provide such a structure for supporting aerial vehicles in which the rails thereof will yield vertically when subjected to vertical strains imposed pon the saine by the weight and movement of' the vehicle; second, to provide a structure of this class in which ythe rails are supported by flexible cables yieldably supported on towers `at their ends and intermediate their ends; third, to provide a structure of this class in which the flexible cables supporting the rails are made in relatively short lengt-hs to minimize the cost of coupling the cables together and also to insure greater safety; fourth, to srovide such a structure in which the ends 01"" the vshort cable sections are secured by yieldable spring means supported on certain towers in the structure; fifth, to provide such a structure inV which the rails are directly supported from the towers and resiliently suspended therefrom; sixth, to provide a structure of this class in which the structure directly supporting and reinforcing the rails is of a rigid type yieldably supported by and suspended from towers and cables; seventh, to provide novel means for bracing'V the structure, directly supporting the rails intermediate the towers, againstthe lateral sway; eighth, to provide as a wholev a novelly constructed structure for supporting aerial vehicles, and ninth, to provide such a structure which is very simple and economical of construction, durable, which will not readily deteriorate yor get out of order.

Nit-'h these and other objects inv view, .asl

will appear hereinafter, my invention consists ot certain novel features o :t construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, as will be described hereinafter in Ydetail and particularly set forth in Vthe appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon, which vforma part of-tliis application, in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a portion of my semi-rigid, suspended railway structure, showing two main towers vand intermediate towers; Fig. 2 is a pla-n view thereof; Fig. 3 is -an enlarged, side 1elevational view ot my suspended Arailway struc-V ture showing more in detail the' relatie, n andl construction of a main ktower and anintermediate ltower;'Fig'. et is anend elevational View thereof showing an aerial vehicle susserial ro. eine p ended 'from the railsthereof; Fig. 5 is a side view of the resilient means for supporting the ends of' the cables from the main towers; Fig. t3 is a side elevationalview'of the movable ysupporting means for supporting the cables intermediate their ends Fig.

'Tis a sectional elevationalview thereof ltaken f mentary, sectional elevational view ofthe resilient means for directly supporting the,

rails on the towers, and F 9 is a transverse, sectional elevational view of the rail supporting structurey with the section taken through 9 9 of 3. Like characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the severalviews ot the drawings. V Y i' Y The main towersl l, intermediate towers 2,

the principalparts and portions `of my suspended railway structure.

i The main towers l supporting the cables 3 at their ends and the intermediatetowers 2 supporting the saine intermedia-te their ends, as shown in l of the drawings, are preterably o f arched construction built Y up of ,structural columns on either side and a structural truss extending across and ,supported at the upper ends thereof. The supporting cables 3 consist preferably of sections @irelativelyY short length vwhich entend between three or four towers and are resilient-ly supported at their ends on the maint-owers'l.

The resilient means 'for supportino' the cables at their ends consists of a supporting' inember or. plate secured to the towers, guide rods 5,' extending fr m said plates and secured together at their extended ends by means o f a vplate 6, and a compression spring1 7 positioned.between said 4guide rods with one end againstthe plate G.' The endlof the cable Aextending through said compression spring 7 is provided with an enlarged retaining member Ssccured ,to the end of said tio cable, which member 8 is positioned against a plate 9 reciprocally mounted on said guide rods and positioned in engagement with the opposite end of said compression spring. lt will be noted that when the cable 3 is subjected to a tensional strain the spring 7 is compressed by the plate 9 engaging the end of the same. The means supporting the cables 3 intermedia-te t-heir ends consist of supporting bloc-lts 10 shiftably supported on supports 11 secured near the upper ends of the towers 2. Each of the blocks 10 is provided with a` plurality of rollers 12 revolubly mounted on spindles 13 extending to the sides of the blocks 10. Said rollers 12 tend into longitudinal slots 11a in the supe ports 1 in which the same are permitted to roll, thus guiding said blocks 10 in their shifting or reciprocating movement. The supports 11 are preferably supported on cross members 2a extending across and se.

cured to the upper ends of the towers 2. 'llhe blocks 10 are provided with circular grooves 10a which conform with the curvature of the cables and with the shape thereof when the same are under tension. Said cables are secured within said blocks by means ends in guide members 17 secured together by means of bolts 18 and spaced apart by means of the spacing members 19, said guide.

members 17 being supported on the supporting members 2O secured to the towers. The rail supporting members 16 are preferably longitudinally slotted, as indicated by 16a in Fig. 8 of the drawings, through which eX- tend the bolts and spacing members 19. The upper ends of the members 16 are preferably reduced and threaded and provided with nuts 21 between which and the upper ends of the guide members 17 and the supports 20 are positioned compression springs 22, thus resiliently supporting the rails from the towers.

The rails 15 are supported relatively to each other and from the cables 8 by means of a rigid structure consisting of cross members.

23, securing and positioning the rails relatively to each other, vertical members 24, secured at their lower ends to the members 23, other horizontal members 25, connecting the upper ends of the members 24, and longitudinal members 26 also connecting the upper ends of the vertical members 24 longitudinally with each other, all of said members 23, 2li, 25 and 25 being reinforced with each other by means of angular cross braces 27 of turnbuckle construction. Said rigid structure, as described is suspended from the ci.- bles 3 by means 0I rods 28 extending downwardly from the cables to said rigid structure, said cables being positioned relatively to each other at the upper ends of said rods by means of tension cross rods 29. Said rods 28 and 29 are reinforced relatively to each other and with said rigid structure bymeans l their one ends to the cables 31 intermediate `f the ends of the latter, and at their opposite ends, respectively, to the supporting cables 3 and to the arms 31l extending downwardly from the arms 32.

lt will be here noted that there are proi vided safety cables 33 at each of the intermediate 'towers 2 which are secured at their one ends to said towers and at their opposite ends to the cables 8 at points slightly spaced from the shiftable supporting means, so that in case the supporting cables are ruptured at their supporting portions the same will not drop a great distance but will be supported by the cables 33.

The towers 1 and 2 are preferably braced from the ground by means of guy wires 3d, as shown best in Figs. 1 and 2 of the dr uw ings.

lt is obvious from this construction, as illustrated in the drawings and disclosed in the foregoing specification, that there is pro# vided a structure of a semi-rigid type for supporting aerial vehicles as aimed at and set forth in the objects of 'the invention, and though l have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts ano portions, l no not wish to be limited to this particular conlli) struction, combination and arrangement, but Y desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters latent, is

1. A structure of thel class described, including spaced towers, flexible cables yieldably supported thereby, and substantially rigid rails suspended from said cables and separately and resiliently supported by said towers.

2. A structure of the class described, including towers spaced from each other, flexible cable sections resiliently supported Cil at their ends by said towers, and rails suspended from said cable sections, said rails being also resiliently supported at said towers.

3. A structure of the class described, including main and intermediate towers, ilexiblecable sections resiliently supported at their ends by said main' towers and yieldably supported intermediate their ends on said intermediate towers, and substantially rigid rails suspendedfrom said cable sections.

fl. A structure of the class described, including main and intermediate towers, flexible cable sections resiliently supported at their ends by said main towers and yieldably supported intermediate their ends on said intermediate towers, rails suspended from said cable sections, and resilientl supporting means on each o'fsaid towers resiliently supporting said rails at said towers.

5. A structure of the class described, including spaced towers, flexible cables yieldably supported thereby, rails suspended from said cables, arms extending outwardly from said cables and said rails, and anti-sway cables secured to said towers and to said arms.

6. A structure of the class described, including towers spaced from each other7 ilexibie cable sections resiliently supported at their ends by said towers, rails suspended from said cable sections, arms extending outwardly from said cable sections and said.

rails, and anti-sway cables secured to said towers and said arms.

7. A structure of the class described, including main and intermediate towers, flexible cable sections resiliently supported at their ends 4by said main towers and yieldably supported intermediate their ends on said intermediate towers, rails suspended from said cable sections, arms extending outwardly from said cables and said rails and reinforced relatively thereto, and cables secured to said towers and said arms.

8. A structure of the class described, including main towers and intermediate towers, the latter positioned between and spaced from said main towers, cable sections extending betwen said towers, spring means connecting the ends of said cable sections to said main towers, longitudinally shiftable means on said intermediate towers yieldably supporting said cable lsections intermediate the ends of the same, and rigidly connected I shaped rails suspended from said cable sections.

9. A structure of the class described, including main ltowers and intermediate towers, the latter positioned between and spaced from said main towers, cable sections extending between said towers, spring means my hand at connecting the ends ot said cable sections to said main towers, longitudinally shi'ttable means on said intermediate towers yieldably supporting said cable sections intermediate the ends of the same, a substantially rigid rail supporting structure suspended from said cable sections, and rigidly connected I shaped rails Vsupported at the sides of said rigid rail supporting structure.

10. Astructure of the class described, including main towers and intermediate towers, the latter positioned between and spaced from said main towers, cable sections extending between said towers, resilient means securing the ends of said cable sections to said main towers, longitudinally shiftable means on said intermediate towers yieldably supporting said cable sections intermediate the ends of the same, rails suspended from said cable sections, and spring means supported by each of said towers for resiliently supporting said rails at said towers.

11. A structure of the class described, including towers spaced from each other, flexible cable sections resiliently supported at their ends by ycertain oit said towers, rails suspended from said cable sections, and auxiliary means secured to each of the other towers and said cable sections intermediate their ends for supporting the same in event of rupture of said other towers.

1Q; A structure oit the class described, including main and intermediate towers, flexible cable sections resiliently supported at their ends by said main towers and yieldably supported intermediate their ends on said intermediate towers, rails suspended from said cable sections, and auxiliary means secured to each of said intermediate towers and said cable sections intermediate their ends for supporting the same in event of rupture at the yieldable supporting means of said intermediate towers.

13. A structure of the class described` including main towers and intermediate towers, thevlatter positioned between and spaced from said main towers, cable sections extend- V llS In testimon whereof, I have hereunto set I an Francisco, California, this 27th day of November, 1923. y

ALPHONSO DAVINO. 

